【成語(yǔ)來(lái)源】

梁上君子

In the Eastern Han Dynasty (東漢), there was a man named Chen Shi (陳寔) .
在東漢初年，有個(gè)人叫陳寔。

One day, a thief slipped into his living-room. Hiding behind the beam, the thief waited for Chen Shi to fall asleep.
有一天，一個(gè)小賊溜進(jìn)了他的房間，躲在房梁上等著陳寔去睡覺(jué)再下手。

Chen Shi, finding the thief, called his family together, saying, "To be a upright man one must have aspirations. Men are not born evil. But if one gets used to doing evil things, it will be hard to reform. The gentleman above the beam is such a man."
陳寔發(fā)現(xiàn)了小偷，把他的家人都召集在一起，說(shuō)：“人不可以不自強(qiáng)。人不是天生就壞的，壞習(xí)慣往往是由不注意自身品性修養(yǎng)所致的。咱家房梁上這個(gè)人就是這樣。”

The thief, hearing this, hurriedly jumped down and knelt on the ground to beg forgiveness.
小偷聽(tīng)到這話，從房梁上跳到地上，跪在陳寔面前，請(qǐng)求原諒，決心做個(gè)有用的人。

This idiom is used to refer to a thief.
這個(gè)成語(yǔ)用來(lái)比喻小偷。

【文化鏈接】

英文中“梁上君子（小偷）”的說(shuō)法有很多，我們一起來(lái)看一看吧~

thief / stealer：a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling（“小偷”最普遍的說(shuō)法）

shoplifter：a thief who steals goods that are in a store（也就是“商店扒手”的意思，特定指一些裝成顧客在商店里行竊的小偷）

pilferer / sneak thief / snitcher：a thief who steals without using violence （這三個(gè)是指“小偷小摸、順手牽羊、不使用暴力”的行竊者，比如“偷報(bào)紙的人”就可說(shuō)成“the paper pilferer”）

pickpocket：a thief who steals from the pockets or purses of others in public places（這個(gè)單詞很好記，就是“專門(mén)看準(zhǔn)別人的錢(qián)包進(jìn)行行竊的小偷”）

prowler：someone who prowls or sneaks about; usually with unlawful intentions（多指那種有一點(diǎn)賊頭賊腦，徘徊不定的可疑人物）

burglar：a thief who enters a building with intent to steal（主要指“入室行竊的夜賊”，也就是夜間入屋行竊的小偷）

cat-burglar：這個(gè)單詞很有意思，是專門(mén)用來(lái)形容“飛賊、動(dòng)作迅速的小偷”的。?